Jeux (“poème dansé”)

• Jeux, Debussy’s “poème dansé” (danced poem), was written in 1912 and premiered in 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysée with the Ballets Russes choreographed by Vaslav Nizhinsky.
  • Unfortunately, the premiere of Debussy’s work was quickly overshadowed by the premiere of a soon-to-be infamous work two weeks later – The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky.¹
• Even without the impact of the near-simultaneous premiere of Stravinsky’s ballet, Debussy’s Jeux had a lukewarm reception from audiences at best. In fact, Debussy considered Nizhinsky’s concept for the story to be crude but needed the commission for financial reasons. While the version of Jeux for stage has largely faded into history, Jeux as a piece for the concert hall has continued to intrigue orchestras over the past century.²
• The synopsis of the ballet:

In a park, at twilight, a tennis ball has got lost; a young man and then two girls come looking for it. The artificial light from the lamp-posts, which spread a fantastic radiance around them, puts ideas of childish games into their heads: they play hide and seek, chase each other, quarrel and sulk for no reason; the night is warm, the sky bathed in a gentle light, they kiss. But the charm is broken by another tennis ball thrown by who knows what malicious hand. Surprised and alarmed, the young man and the girls disappear into the depths of the park at night.³

1. François Lesure and Roy Howat, “Debussy, (Achille-)Claude,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed January 5, 2023, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000007353.
2. Robert Maycock, Notes in accompanying booklet, Debussy: Jeux & Préludes performed by The Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder, Hallé 7518, 2009, compact disc.
3. Ibid.